BBC will stream every single minute of the Olympics

One undeniable trend about the Olympics over the last eight years is that its presence in online and mobile platforms has absolutely exploded. In 2004, NBC launched a mobile website dedicated to people wanting to check out the latest medal counts and breaking news on their phone, but it was little more than truncated text and a few tiny images. This year, you’ll be able to watch every moment of the international sporting event from your phone.

At least, that’s what the BBC is planning to do. In case you were wondering, that’s more than 2,500 hours of content. The broadcaster will offer a special video player on its website, chock full of 24 different live high-definition video streams. In 2008, the BBC offered six streams. During a media event, BBC general manager Phil Pearnley was quoted as describing the project by saying, “The biggest single event we’ve ever seen was in the World Cup when England played Slovenia. Take that and double it – that’s what we’ve been planning for the Olympics.”

In addition to the Web-based video player, the BBC will offer special apps for the iPhone, iPad, and Android. It will also deliver a special app for Internet-connected TVs as well as the PS3, Tivo, and even other platforms that the company hasn’t confirmed yet. On top of all this, it will also have constantly updated Twitter feeds so that users who don’t have the time to launch a video player will be able to get instant updates. The BBC is calling it “the first proper digital Olympics.”